A Cuneiform clay tablet which for over 150 years defied attempts at interpretation has now been revealed to describe an asteroid impact which in 3123 BC hit Köfels, Austria, leaving in its wake a trail of destruction which may acccount for the biblical tale of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Instead of switching your TV off when it isn’t in use, Sony advocates leaving it on and watching pretty pictures instead. The electronics giant has launched an HD TV series that displays still images on-screen when you’re done watching Eastenders.

Japanese boffins believe they may have developed a means of reversing cirrhosis of the liver among rats and perhaps people, in a development with far-reaching consequences for professional cricketers, hellraising movie stars, layabout drunks, politicians, economists, Catholic priests, journalists and others whose jobs require them to drink heavily.

Video-sharing website LiveLeak has removed the anti-Koran documentary Fitna by Dutch MP Geert Wilders after receiving threats. "We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high," a statement reads. No details were given, except that the threats were "of a very serious nature".

US military boffinry bureau DARPA*, which sees the bleeding edge as a blunt instrument, is getting into quantum effects. The Pentagon mad-science profs have offered government funding for researchers who can help them obtain Quantum Entanglement Science and Technology (QuEST).

NSFW
If you're in the market for a new duster to do a bit of light spring cleaning we'd advise you to nip out to your nearest hardware shop rather than pop down to the UK ecommerce tentacle of retail monolith Woolworths, where a search query for this most innocent of household items returns a nasty shock for innocent inhabitants of Middle England:

The SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association) calls it "whistleblowing." And we call it "disgruntled peons ratting on their bosses." But whatever label you use, dobbing on your own company for cutting corners on software licenses can be a lucrative sport.

IBM has been temporarily barred from bidding for new contracts with US Federal government agencies. The company blames the suspension on a dispute with the Environmental Protection Agency - of which it had no knowledge, until it read about the ban on a government website.